Search - Grateful Dawg on DVD

Dog Gone Good

moe armstrong | Cambridge, MA United States | 10/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is so touching. The music is incredible. We get to see and hear the real Jerry Garcia. Understand his love of American music. Jerry Garcia was Americana before Americana and the Magazine No Depression. This was the first day that this movie opened in Boston. I was there. I wanted to run out on the streets and say Hey, come in and you must see this movie that has so much heart. At the end of the movie, I thought the spoken tributes to Jerry Garcia that were being said as the long song Arabia played on was too much. I just could have listened and watched two great people, who also happened to be great musicians, play on their own. Their music stood by itself without needing the spoken words. In the end, it doesn't matter. If you just love music, you will love this movie. If you want to see and hear a warm movie about friendship, you will love this movie. David Grisman should get an Oscar for best documentary 2001."

What a great movie on acoustic music and friendship

Glenn Fink | Arlington, VA United States | 02/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't praise this film enough. Gillian Grisman, the director, had a penchant for making home movies which often happened to include Jerry Garcia and David Grisman working together on tasteful, emotionally performed acoustic music which included old south traditionals, and folk music from around the world, as well as some originals. Jerry and David enjoyed a friendship and deep musical connection that stretched out over 30 years. It's informal, most of the footage taken without any projects in mind, around the studio in the basement of Grisman's house, with his family around (the dog pops in and out of shots), and much footage taken from performances at Sweetwater and the Warfield in the early 90s, with Joe Craven and Jim Kerwin. There's interviews with Peter Rowan and Vassar Clements from Old And In The Way (Garcia and Grisman's first project together, 1973). It's also got still photos reaching back to 1961 of Grisman and Garcia, who met at a Bill Monroe concert at Sunset Park in 1964, and excerpts of an audio interview Jerry did for Guitar Magazine in 1991. The film also shows Jerry in a very comfortable setting, something that the stage of Grateful Dead shows didn't necessarily afford him. It's nice to see him performing without any pressure of being the patriarch of the deadheads, simply being part of a band, having a good time with some friends, playing with great dynamics with a group of very talented musicians. (Joe Craven, how many instruments, exactly, do you play? Extraordinary.) If you're a fan of acoustic music, you really ought to check out this movie - it's very satisfying."

Grateful Documentary

D.W. Mac | Currently stuck in North Carolina on my way back t | 12/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A totally awesome documentary that will make you tap your feet, smile, shed a tear and dry your eyes on the wind. Not only is this DVD absorbing and enlightening, it is also cozy as an old hammock. For lovers of Jerry's music and the man himself, you'll get to see him in a further intimate setting than usual. You will learn of Jerry's other musical loves and how and where this sound was originated from. You will also be graced with the expertise of a one Mr. David Grisman, whom like Jerry is able to carry himself to another time and place and bring back to you, the listener, this assured style of music known as DAWG. Speaking in Psychedelic babble, I truly believe these folks perform a certain type of melodious séance, if you will, to bring to us this sweet sound of long beyond. Many thanks to David Grisman for making this film possible and allowing admirers of Jerry to see him in a different sphere. On a sad note, it will make you miss Jerry all the more.
This is a must for any Dead Head, especially those who loved the traditional ballads.
Peace, friendship and love your family with this disk.
*Remember, this is not a concert piece. This is a pure Documentary and if you are looking for just a concert, it may not be for you."

Grisman and Garcia - Beards of a Feather

Rod Saunders | Tulsa, Ok | 07/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike most of the reviewers here I am more of a dawghead than a deadhead. David Grisman is my musical idol. The man is a creative genius. I bought the DVD because there's very little video available of David Grisman and I knew that this would be a video bonanza for Grisman fans. I'm not disappointed. The only drawback to this movie in my opinion is that it wasn't shot as a documentary but as Gillian Grisman says, it was a hodgepodge of home movies that were simply used to create a documentary a few years after Garcia's death. Still, there is a certain charm to the fact that it wasn't shot as a documentary. The subjects are free to be themselves, not realizing that anyone outside of their inner circle will ever view the footage. It's obvious that Gillian decided to study the art of movie making once she determined that she was going to create a documentary. She went to great lengths to tell the story of her dad and Garcia with an appropriate thread of performance, studio, and interview video. Sure, there are a lot of interview clips, but it is a documentary after all. Personally I didn't find them all that distracting. And for an added bonus, the DVD viewer has the option of viewing the movie with commentaries from David and Gillian. Several outtakes are also added, including Vassar Clements' embarrassing story of how he was playing with Garcia without really knowing who the Grateful Dead are. I'm sure most deadheads will love this flick. I know dawgheads like me will."